Top three in the 2021 Korean Chess Prize List (from left): Shin Jin-hyun, Park Young-hwan, and Shin Min-soo. All three won the World Series this year, boosting their revenue dramatically
Shin Jin-hyun earned 1.06 billion won a year to become South Korea's annual prize king, ranking third in history
Shin Shin-chan won 80 wins this year, with an average value of 13.25 million won per win
In the professional chess world, income is a measure of a player's ability. The strong win more, the winner earns more – this unshakable law like an "iron barrel" is also fully demonstrated in the Korean Go world in 2021.
Top superstar Shin Jin-chan (21 years old) once again became the "richest man" of about 1 billion won. Shin Jin-hyun has won this honor this year after winning the annual "Bonus King" last year, which is also the second time he has won the annual "Bonus King" of Korean Go.
Shin earned a total of 1,060 million won (about 5.7 million yuan) in 2021, setting a record for the highest personal annual bonus (as of December 27) over last year (1,038 million won). This annual prize is also the third in the history of the Annual Individual Prize List of Go in Korea, after Lee Sedol's 1.41 billion won (2014) and Park Tinghuan's 1.208 billion won (2018). In addition, if you divide by Shin Jin-chan's 80 wins (17 losses) this year, the average value of each win is about 13.25 million won (about 71,000 yuan).
Shin Shin won the 13th Chunlan Cup
In Shin's annual income breakdown, the prize money in international competitions is very large: the prize money won in international competitions such as the Chunlan Cup champion (150,000 US dollars), the Samsung Cup runner-up (100 million won), the team nongshim cup champion (163 million won), and the Chinese Weijia League (225 million won) and other international competitions, more than three-quarters of the total prize money. Shin Jin-chan's income from the five domestic chess tournaments (Top Position Battle, Caltex Cup, Celebrity Battle, KBS Chess Championship, dragon star battle) won this year is only 250 million won.
Park Young-hwan came in second, and Shin Min-ho came in third
The average annual income of the top 30 korean annual prize list is 168 million won (about 900,000 yuan)
Park Young-hwan won the 26th Three Star Cup
The second-highest-ranking Player in annual earnings for South Korean players is Park Young-hwan (28), who received a prize of 758 million won (about 4.1 million yuan) this year. After winning the annual "Bonus King" triple crown from 2017 to 2019, Park Tinghuan ranked second in two consecutive years from 2020 to 2021.
The Samsung Cup winner (300 million won) and the Chinese Weijia League (267 million won) are the main sources of Park's income. Until this autumn, Park's prize money lagged behind Shin Min-hoon, ranking third; however, after winning the Samsung Cup in November, Park Ting-hwan overtook Shin Min-hoon and rose to second place.
Shin Min-ri won the 25th LG Cup
Shin Min-min (22 years old) had his most glorious year by winning the 25th LG Cup at the beginning of the year (with a prize of 300 million won) and jumping to the third place in the annual prize list of Korean chess players. Shin Min-min's total annual prize money is 555 million won (about 3 million yuan), up five places from last year's 8th place.
In contrast, Bian Sang-yi (24 years old, with an annual prize of 288 million won) won the National Hand Mountain Cup (50 million won), but it was about 60 million won less than last year's prize money, and retreated to fourth place on the prize list.
Among the Korean women's chess players, Choi Jung (25 years old) and Oh Yoo Jin (23 years old) won 237 million won and 137 million won respectively, ranking 5th and 10th in the prize money list, both in the top 10. Kim Ji-seok (217 million won) and Kang Dong-yun (190 million won) ranked 6th and 7th respectively. Of the 187 million won in annual prize money of 187 million won, Lee Dong-hoon, ranked 8th, has 133 million won in revenue from the Chinese Weijia League. In 9th place, Lee Chang-seok (138 million won) is entering the "annual (won) club" for the first time.
South Korean doubles Park Ting-hwan and Shin Jin-hyun won the Samsung Cup title and runner-up
The average annual prize pool for the top 10 players in South Korea's annual prize list is 377 million won (about 2.04 million yuan), up 13.2% from last year (333 million won). The average annual prize money of the top 30 of the annual prize list also rose from 144 million won last year to 168 million won this year, up 16.7%. The number of chess players with annual revenues of more than 100 million won includes 12 players in the 11th and 12th places, including Yuan Shengqin and Cao Chengya, an increase of 4 over last year.
Korean Go has shaken off the impact of the "first year of the new crown epidemic" in 2020, the number of matches has increased, and the competition environment has improved, which are the main reasons for the increase in income of Korean chess players this year. However, the number of Korean chess players with annual revenues of more than 100 million won has not yet returned to the peak levels of 2017 (18) and 2018 (16).
The main competitor, Chinese Go, has a less than ideal income due to the decline in the number of chess matches this year and the sluggishness at the World Series. Ke Jie (24), the signature star who topped the annual prize list of Chinese chess players, did not have a world championship in the account this year, and the total prize money was only half of the level of previous years – 3.65 million yuan (about 680 million won).
Japan's first person, Yuta Iyama (32 years old), has secured 126 million yen (about 1.3 billion won & 7 million yuan) with the prize money of five domestic titles, and has become the annual "prize king" of the Japanese chess world for 11 consecutive years. The official annual revenue ranking of Japanese Go will be announced in January next year.
(Saury compiled from a column by Chosun Ilbo reporter Lee Hong-yeol)